When it comes to supplementation in the fitness industry, most are on a quest to find the magic powder or pill that will help transform their physique & enhance their physical & mental performance. Some people are willing to even spend thousands of dollars. What if I told you that one of the greatest supplements one can take isn’t something that can be ingested, injected, or even purchased?
One of the greatest supplements one can take comes from a hot glowing ball of hydrogen found in the sky - 93 million miles away from Earth!
That’s right! The sun is a powerful supplier of energy & without it, life would not exist. It is not just plants that absorb & metabolize sunlight, but humans also benefit tremendously from it. Sunlight, in moderation, can have profound positive effects on the body & mind! The greatest part about it is that it’s completely free!
What Is Sunlight?
The sun is a combination of lights, both visible & invisible. The sun radiates both infrared rays, visible light, ultraviolet rays, & several other wavelengths as well.
Benefits Of Sunlight!
- UV Light - UV light reacts with cholesterol in the skin to form vitamin D. Vitamin D is crucial to immune functions & the absorption of calcium & many other minerals. UV light has also been shown to reduce blood pressure, increase the efficiency of the heart, improve metabolism, increase weight loss, improve hormonal profile, improve gut health, & increase libido.
- Sun’s brightness - Sunny days are anywhere from 100-1000x brighter in terms of LUX than indoor lighting. Brightness has a profound effect on mood, fertility, & libido. People with seasonal effective disorder from lack of brightness have higher incidences of fatigue, sickness, insomnia, depression, & suicide. A recent study showed that low libido in men was treated with bright light exposure (1)
- Circadian Rhythm - Humans today are more disconnected from nature than they’ve ever been. One of the ways to connect to nature is via our circadian rhythm - the natural cycles our biological systems undergo, in relation to natures cycles. Humans are meant to rise & rest with the rise & fall of the sun. Most people today, however, are not getting outside at sunrise & are blasting themselves with indoor artificial light. Getting adequate amounts of natural sunlight helps to regulate our body’s circadian rhythms impacting our physical, mental, & behavioral health.
- Eyes - The eyes are extensions of the brain. Light from your eye is not just used for visual acuity…it goes directly to the hypothalamus in your brain, which directs your pituitary, the master regulator of your endocrine system. Similar to how the components of the food you eat travel throughout your blood stream to different tissues, light through your eyes ends up influencing the function of every single organ.
- Full Spectrum Colors - Sunlight is much more than bright UV light. It has full visible spectrum + many invisible electromagnetic wavelengths like infrared. Many of the most important enzymes in the body are color sensitive. Martinek & Berezin found that some colors can stimulate bodily enzymes to be up to 500% more effective. Cytochrome C Oxidase, for instance, the last electron in the transport chain is stimulated by red light increasing ATP production.
- https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160918214443.htm
